<p>MIT is definately my first choice, but I am a bit worried when it comes to the cost... My family makes quite a bit of money, but my parents have only agreed to contribute a certain amount of money towards my college education. I've tried the financial aid calculator that they have on their website, so I have an estimate of how much aid I would recieve... However, when I take the total expected cost and subtract both the estimated financial aid and my parents' contribution, it still leaves me with around $16,000 that I would need to pay for myself. MIT is my first chioce, but when I compare graduating nearly debt-free from an in-state university to graduating from MIT around $60,000 in debt, I might need to reconsider.</p>
<p>Being rejected from MIT would be one thing, but I think the worst-case scenario for me would be getting my hopes up by being accepted, and then needing to turn it down because of the money.</p>
<p>Is there anyone else who had a similar experience with financial aid at MIT? How accurate are the financial aid calculators? Would graduating with that much debt leave me in a tough spot? I know quite a few graduates from MIT end up starting out with a fairly high income, but my parents have always warned me about graduating with tens of thousands of dollars in debt, as I would likely be paying it off for quite a while afterwards...</p>
<p>You should probably wait until you get your financial aid package (and, you know, the nontrivial step of getting accepted to MIT) before you worry about how much it costs.</p>
<p>That being said…</p>
<p>
Then go to a state school! From here on out, you get to make these kinds of decisions. I am graduating MIT with twice your debt. Had I stayed at my local state college, I would be <em>getting paid</em> a third of what I currently pay for MIT, and it’s entirely possible that my career would have been just fine and maybe even better off, assuming that I got straight As, that people continued to think I was a prodigy, that I decided to follow my original plan and go to grad school after I graduated, that the research I was doing led to a publication or two, and that the self-esteem drop and confusion over what it is that I want to do with the rest of my life, no really, had more to do with my surroundings than with me, which I am not so sure is true. I am also not sure that a state school would have afforded me the luxury of having a bad semester or two or three, of three years of fascinating, rewarding, high-risk research projects that ultimately failed, and of amazing professors and a top program in any field, just in case it turned out that what I thought wanted to do when I was 18 was not, in fact, what I still wanted to do when I was 20. And should I decide to go into industry, the average starting salary for an MIT graduate in my field is high enough to pay off that massive debt within two years–and still leave enough money for living. And it is hard to imagine that I will not be able to get that kind of job with that kind of salary, should I decide that it is what I want, even though my GPA is average and the economy sucks.</p>
<p>But it’s totally up to you. Maybe MIT isn’t worth that kind of money.</p>
<p>My experience with financial aid was not great, and the job market has not yet made it up to me. I’m not sure if I’d do it again. </p>
<p>I agree with lidusha. See if MIT is even an option and see what your financial aid package is. I know this is very hard to do, but there’s just no use in worrying about this. Make sure to have a backup plan that you’re happy about. And remember that if you’re at a decent college, your success depends less on being at the somewhat more decent college than it does on what you do with the opportunities you have.</p>
<p>If you apply, you know the worst case scenario: You can’t afford to attend. But, if you get in, maybe your parents will rethink their position. Don’t get your hopes up (hope your parents come through), but if you never try, you will never know.</p>
<p>As a long time reader of CC’s “Decision” threads every March/April, it’s sad to see the number of heartbroken seniors who cannot attend the colleges they’ve been accepted to - because they cannot afford to. </p>
<p>MIT is pretty good at making sure that every admitted students’ family can afford to send them. They do make mistakes from time to time, although rarely, and I know of two students who have successfully made Financial Aid appeals to ensure that they will be able to attend. However, and this is key, they evaluate the family’s ability to pay, not its willingness. I have regularly met kids whose families could afford to send them to MIT, but do not want to. That is a particular family dynamic, and MIT does not afford that position much if any weight (otherwise every family would choose not to pay). </p>
<p>At the same time, I work with two guys who both independently were raised in families in which, when they turned 18, their parents said something to the extent of “Well, you are no longer my responsibility, so where would you like me to drop you off.” And that was it. One of them did not speak with his parents between the ages of 18 and 27. There is a continuum. My parents told me that they would pay for “a great school or a state school, but nothing in between”.</p>
<p>As lidusha said, now you get to make these decisions for yourself, and these decisions have consequences. Good luck whatever you decide to do.</p>
<p>I don’t have any advice in financial aid to give you.</p>
<p>But I do have an idea that I can give you. Either way you will believe the grass is greener on the other side. If you go to the state school you will believe that you are getting a lesser education. If you go to MIT you will feel like you have to much debt.</p>
<p>Now either option is completely fine. It is what you end up doing with your choice which will determine if you believe the choice you made was right. If you get tons of experience, get straight A’s in your state school, and do some extra work on your own you will be able to match up with an MIT student. Now if you pick MIT you can do a UROP and do your best to get a high paying job, and your debt will be reduced to the debt you would have had if you went to the state school.</p>
<p>So what you pick doesn’t matter, it is what you do with your choice.</p>
<p>Do not fall in love with MIT. Definitely apply but keep your options open and be prepared to take other offers even if you get into MIT. They are not as generous as other top schools and I know of more than one student (and the parents) who are unhappy with 1) the amount MIT expects the family to pay 2) their financial aid officer.</p>
<p>My son has been <em>most</em> fortunate and will probably graduate with very little debt (zero debt for first two years) because he has maximum outside scholarship (*very important to try and get 6K of outside scholarship a year) and because of our moderate income and low assets. I am hoping he’ll be able to pay for his last two years of college from summer internships. We shall see!</p>
<p>Even so, I have filed an appeal both years and received more aid-not much more, mind you, but every penny counts.</p>
<p>I feel that my son’s MIT financial aid package is strong. However, without his outside merit scholarships his loan burden would substantial. I agree with sbjdorlo in garnering as much outside merit money as possible as it reduces, or even eliminates, the student summer contribution. We will see what the upcoming years hold for finaid.</p>
<p>To be fair, the reason MIT financial aid is often not as good as other top schools is because MIT has more students who need more aid (fewer full-pay and more low-income students than other top schools) and because MIT’s endowment is not as large as many of its peer schools. So it’s not entirely realistic to expect MIT’s financial aid to match or exceed its peers, who have more money available and less that it’s necessary to spend.</p>
<p>Personally, I attended MIT at around half-fare, and I graduated with about $40,000 in debt ($20k in federal loans and $20k in private). I’ve now entirely paid them off, even though I’m not in a high-income field (I went straight from undergrad to a science PhD program). It wasn’t ever a hardship for me, just a responsibility. And I consider the decision to attend MIT to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.</p>
<p>I agree with this. I hope the new MIT president has some improvement in this area.</p>
<p>Fortunately, it’s easier for students to have part-time jobs to cover the COA at MIT than at other colleges. MIT FA policy does not give penalty to students who make more than what they are supposed to contribute. Thanks to this policy, my son did not have to borrow a lot.</p>
<p>I agree 100% with what you say, but I think the OP and others in a certain income category, who also may come in without outside scholarships, need to be aware of this and not pin all their hopes on getting the best financial aid package from MIT and they need to be prepared to either borrow or choose a different school.</p>
<p>What I think MIT does very well is allow the outside scholarships to cover both the loan and the work study portion of the f. aid package, at least that was the case with my son.</p>
Absolutely – I think all applicants who need aid should be prepared to borrow, knowing what that entails, or to choose a different school. I just wanted to share my own experience, having made the choice to borrow $40k (and that was my debt upon graduation, not including my parents’) rather than attend my state school for free. I didn’t have any outside scholarships.</p>
<p>I agree with PiperXP. MIT Student Financial Services do a decent job in most cases (Agreed: There are exceptions). I know of several people who have appealed against aid awards, and nobody who has be unable to afford to take up an offer of admission.</p>
<p>Still a majority of MIT undergraduates graduate with no debt. Of those that due, 50% have debts less than $15000, and the mean debt is $20,800. Yes, that is way higher than say Princeton (which has the best FA figures in the country, with 77% graduating with no debt, and an mean debt amongst the 23% that borrow of $5,225), but it is better than most schools by a very long shot.</p>
<p>Heartbroken in April, but by November they are happy with their backup college, and most of them go on to lives that are mostly the same as if they had gone to the unaffordable college.</p>